The Penguin Book of Gay Short StoriesDavid Leavitt, Mark Lindsey Mitchell This is an anthology of stories that, in the words of its co-editor David Leavitt, "illuminate the experience of love between men, explore the nature of homosexual identity, or investigate the kinds of relationships gay men have with each other, with their friends, and with their families". It is not a collection of stories written exclusively by gay authors; indeed, readers may be surprised to discover that some of their favorite women writers and straight male writers have also explored the territory. What the stories do share is a refusal to ghettoize gay men as denizens of the gay nocturnal subculture. The men in these stories live very much in the world; their sexuality, though an important aspect of their lives, doesn't singularly define them. The thirty-nine stories brought together here suggest the ways in which gay experience has - and hasn't - changed over the course of this century, starting with the tender, unarticulated longings of two boys swimming in D. H. Lawrence's "A Poem of Friendship" and ending with the explicit sexual interaction of two boys in a bathtub in A. M. Homes's "The Whiz Kids". In between there is every imaginable kind of gay story, as offered by well-known authors and by those less familiar to the devotees of the genre. There is wry humor in Barbara Pym's clever manipulation of romantic convention; painful accounts of discovery in Larry Kramer's "Mrs. Tefillin"; the consolation of age in Edmund White's "Reprise"; and in Randall Kenan's "Run, Mourner, Run", the breaking of both racial and sexual taboos. The anthology also encompasses a richly diverse subcategory of stories inspired by AIDS, from such writers as Allen Barnett, Michael Cunningham, StephenGreco, Dennis McFarland, and Peter Wells: stories that explore not only the tragedy of the epidemic but also the triumphs, even the erotic possibilities, that have been generated in its wake. These stories illuminate the common ground of gay male experience - as well as its astonishing diversity. |
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Page 442
... Louise to stay around on the weekends , but Louise said she always went to her father's . Then Sarah tried to get her to take her along , and Louise said that she couldn't . " You could take her if you wanted to , ” I said later ...
... Louise to stay around on the weekends , but Louise said she always went to her father's . Then Sarah tried to get her to take her along , and Louise said that she couldn't . " You could take her if you wanted to , ” I said later ...
Page 453
... Louise whether it wouldn't be nice if both of us came in and spent the night Saturday and if we all went to brunch together Sunday . Louise is excited . I never go into town with her . Louise and I pack a suitcase and put it in the car ...
... Louise whether it wouldn't be nice if both of us came in and spent the night Saturday and if we all went to brunch together Sunday . Louise is excited . I never go into town with her . Louise and I pack a suitcase and put it in the car ...
Page 454
... Louise strides in in front of me , throwing her coat over the brass coatrack in the entranceway — almost too casual ... Louise . " I am trying to remember if I have ever told Louise that I used to live in this apartment . I must have ...
... Louise strides in in front of me , throwing her coat over the brass coatrack in the entranceway — almost too casual ... Louise . " I am trying to remember if I have ever told Louise that I used to live in this apartment . I must have ...
Contents
CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD | 24 |
NOËL COWARD | 72 |
J R ACKERLEY | 109 |
Copyright | |
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A. M. Homes Angela Antibes arms Arrowsmith asked Barbara Pym Barbie beautiful Bradley called course Daniel dark David Leavitt Dean door dressed drink E. M. Forster Enzo Eric everything eyes face Farragut father feel felt fucking George Willard Gertrude girl glass golliwog hair hand head heard homosexual Horst Jason Jimmy Jody kids kissed knew laughed lived looked Louise Lymie Mace-Hamilton Mack Milo mind morning mother mouth Nathan never nice night Noah Noël Coward Öçi opma Perry Peter Prairie Oyster pulled remember Rivka saké Sally seemed Sergio sitting smile someone stay stood stopped story sure talk tefillin tell there's thing thought told Tony took Torridge turned voice waiting walked watched Wiltshire window Winesburg woman wondered young